


The First Time I Saw You

by CookieWaffle



Category: Skyward Sword prequle, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Hurt/Comfort, Oneshot, POV First Person, Soulmates, sort of AU? it’s not totally accurate to the manga and I took some artistic liberties, warning this Link swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 17:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13664112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieWaffle/pseuds/CookieWaffle
Summary: Every relationship has it’s beggining, even ones that seem as old as time.When he first saw her, he knew nothing of their fate, but he sensed that nothing would ever be the same.





	The First Time I Saw You

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t usually write in first person so I decided to experement a bit with my writing. It was actually pretty fun!  
> I really hope you like this one because I think it’s probably one of my better fics that I’ve posted in a while.

The first time I saw you, I didn’t know what our fate would be, or even that I would love you so much. But as soon as I looked into your eyes, I knew that my life would never be the same...

It was damp, cold, uncomfortably cramped, and I could hardly see three inches in front of my face. But this was nothing. I barely even noticed it. All I was focused on was keeping as quiet as possible, and trying to squeeze my weak body through the tunnel I was digging. I was exhausted, my hands were raw and scabbed from digging through so much dirt and rock, but I was almost there. I couldn’t exactly tell how long I had been digging, for I hadn’t seen the sun and moon in years, but I assumed it must have been several months at least. By now I must have been close to the outside of the prison. I could practically already feel the fresh air against my skin. This was my last chance, I couldn’t fail this time. I was getting weaker and slower by the day. I knew I wouldn’t survive much longer, but if I was going to rot away it was going to be outside where I could see the sun and smell the Earth. I had to use all the strength I could possibly muster.  
I could feel it now, the wind blowing through my hair. I could smell the grass and feel the moist earth beneath me. Or was it all just an illusion brought along by years of solitary confinement? I didn’t want to take that chance. I’ve made that mistake before. Not wanting to repeat it, I pressed on. Just a little further.  
I felt a rock scrape against my bare stomach. I stopped for a moment to see if it was bleeding, but it wasn’t too bad of a cut. Though it might become infected if it were left untreated. I chose to ignore it. I had been suspecting that I may have been becoming very ill as it was already, but it really didn’t matter to me anymore. I just wanted to go home. Not my old house where I grew up, that’s for certain. It was probably not even there anymore. Besides, there were too many painful memories attached to that house. My true home was the wilderness. The breath taking beauty of the land. The trees I would climb, the caves I would explore, the rivers I would swim in, the plains I would run through. That was my home. Not here. This was not my home, it never was. It was my tomb, where I would soon waste away if I did nothing.  
Here. It was here. I knew it. I could really feel it this time. I dug a small hole through the ceiling of the tunnel. Light! There was light! Overcome with excitement, I foolishly scrambled to the surface, and the next thing I knew I felt a strong hand yank me out of the hole by my hair. Then I was harshly thrown to ground. I looked for the source of the light, and all it was was the flickering of a torch light in one of the prison hallways. I could hear the laughter of the guards who were staring down at me, mocking me for my waisted efforts.  
I didn’t know what to feel, honestly. That was my last chance. I had been digging that hole for Faore knows how long. I had used every ounce of my strength, and it was all for nothing. It was over now. I would never be able to go home. But it all happened so fast that it took a minute for the realization to hit me. And when it did, I started to cry. I hadn’t cried since I was a kid, I thought I had cried every tear I could years ago, or at least what I think was years ago.  
Of course the guards had a great time with this. I didn’t care about the mocking though. I just couldn’t believe that I failed.

After the guards were done nearly laughing to death at my pathetic state, they grabbed me and dragged me to a new cell, which was right across from my old one. To add insult to injury, my old cell was barely a few yards away from where I had emerged from my tunnel. I wasn’t even close to the outside!  
It wasn’t long before the head guard came up to my cell and tried to intimidate me. He hated me more than every other guard there, and I loved messing with him. It was really the only fun thing to do around there, aside from watching rats run around. But it wasn’t exactly the safest thing to do either, I had gotten my ass kicked for it more times than I can count. Still, what did it matter? I was going to die in there anyways. 

The head guard leered down at me. “You really thought you could pull it off this time didn’t you? It’s like you’re asking me to break you jaw again! Or did you remember how much that hurt?”

“No, I think I remember that pretty well. Just like I remembered the past five billion times you’ve brought it up.”

It happened years ago, when I was still just a kid. I made my first escape attempt which was very short lived. The head guard broke my jaw and it never healed properly since I’m pretty sure the prison doctors were literally just hired right off the street and didn’t know squat. Because of that my Jaw was slightly crooked even long after it healed. But it hadn’t happened again since.

“You want me to shatter your other knee too?” the head guard snorted.

“Go ahead, it’s not like I’ll be walking out of here anytime soon.”

He also shattered my right knee a while back. It was because I got into a big fight with another prisoner and he, as well as a few other guards, took out their clubs and beat the shit out of the both of us. I think the other guy died from a head injury. I would have felt guilty if the guy han’t been openly bragging about killing kids, whish is why I started the fight in the first place.  
Now the knee injury I actually was mad about, because it healed even worse than my jaw and I hadn’t been able to stand up or walk correctly since. But I acted like I didn’t care. I didn’t want to give that asshole the satisfaction. 

I could see the head guard’s eye twitch. That meant I was really getting on his nerves. 

“Sick of me already?” I asked sarcastically. “Aw, you must be having a bad day. Can’t say that I’ve been having the best day myself. You know, with the failed escape attempt and all that.”

Even in my emotional state I said stupid sarcastic shit that would no doubt get my ass kicked. Sarcasm was really the only personality trait I had left at that point, although it had grown much more cynical over the years. 

I soon felt myself get yanked up by my hair again. He said nothing. Damn, he must have been really angry at me. Made sense. I knew escape attempts made him look really bad, even when they don’t get that far like mine did.  
He dragged me down the hall and into the torture chamber and tied me to a large wooden post, my back facing outwards. Fuck, I knew what he was going to do. He waisted no time getting to it and before long I felt the first lash against my back. When I was a kid I screamed and cried my lungs out, and I would always pass out from the pain. But over the years I had learned to tolerate it more. I no longer screamed and cried, but it still hurt like hell. Even more so now because I barely had any meat left on my bones to soften the blows. 

He gave me about 30 lashes before he threw me back in my cell. I just lay there on the cold hard ground feeling sorry for myself.  
I hear the soft tapping of little claws nearby. I looked towards the sound and saw a little rat. Many would find rats as one of the many horrors of being locked away in a filthy prison, but not to me. I actually liked the rats. They brought a sense of familiarity to me. Back when I was free, I saw many animals while I was playing and exploring through the woods. I loved them. They shared their home with me, and they made me happy. But when I was locked away, I no longer saw the animals, except for two. Rats, and roaches. I liked the rats a lot better though. Rats are soft, and I would even call them cute. I would often share my meals with them when I could. I did try picking up and petting one once, but it bit me. Can’t say I blamed them though. They were a wild animal who did not want to be tamed, much like me. Although they had the choice to leave and go as they pleased, a luxury I was sure I would never have.  
As I watched the rat do it’s thing, I overheard two of the guards talking about me. 

“Why do we even bother keeping him alive? He aint’ never going to be released and I think he’s dying anyways! Have you seen how sick he looks lately? I’m telling you, he’s just a waste on space and resources! Why not just kill him? It’s not like anyone would care anyways.” 

“Yea I agree with you, but you’d have to take it up with the head of the prison. It probably won’t take much convincing though.”

“How long has he been here anyways?”

“Longer than I have. That’s all I know.”

“Sheesh, they kept him for that long? Ridiculous! This shit is coming out of our pay and they’re just wasting money on prisoners who will never leave and are only good for spending money for food on!” 

I laughed to myself mentally. What food? They called the garbage they served here food? And I wasn’t even served every day of the week! There was a reason I was so skinny.  
Then I heard the guards continue their conversation.

“How old is he even?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know his name. But I’m guessin’ that he must be gettin’ up there in age. His hair is sort of a grey-ish color.”

Wait, I was old? I knew I must have been an adult by now but I couldn’t be that old could I? And I didn’t know that my hair was grey. Maybe it was just all the dirt, blood, and gods know what else that collected in it over the years. It was once a very light blond color, I could see why all that garbage could make it look grey. But then again, I certainly did feel like an old man. Maybe they were right and I had lost track of time even more than I originally thought. It’s likely. I had been locked up in that dump ever since I was fifteen years old, it’s easy to lose track of time when you haven’t seen the sun for as long as I had. 

I was exhausted, and there was nothing I could do other than watch this rat and cry, so I closed my eyes and fell asleep.  
I don’t know how much time had passed. A few minutes, hours, a day? No idea. But all I know is that I could hear the sound of frantic yelling. It woke me up, and immediately the smell of smoke hit my nose. Right outside my cell I could see guards running and there was a faint orange glow coming from down both sides of the hallway.

“Well fuck, the place is on fire. As if things couldn’t possibly get any worse. But hey at least I’ll probably die more quickly.” I thought to myself.

I apathetically lay there on the cell floor, really not giving a shit. I didn’t care anymore. If anything it was a good thing that the damn place was burning to the ground.  
But then ground shook. I wasn’t expecting that. Then it shook again, harder, and then harder. Then everything shook so hard that a few of my cell’s bars came loose.

No, no way this could be happening. 

I crawled up to the loose bars and used whatever last ounce I could find of my remaining strength to push them loose. I couldn’t believe this was happening. As soon as I heard the metal bars hit the ground, the adrenaline rushed through my body. I slowly forced myself to stand up, propping myself up against the wall. Then I hobbled down the hallway as fast as I could, which was not very fast.  
The fire was a lot worse than I had expected, and the guards were panicking so much that they didn’t even notice me. I could hear the screams of the other prisoners burning to death, but the only thing I could focus on was finding a way out. I was given one last chance, and I wasn’t going to waste it.  
The floor shook again and knocked me to the ground. I tried to get up but then the floor shook once again, and the ground in front of me burst open as something popped out. It was some kind of creature. It was red and ugly and made an awful shrieking noise. It grabbed me by the leg, and by instinct a grabbed a shard of wood that was laying nearby and shoved it into the creature’s eye. It took a few stabs before it finally let go of me and ran off. What the hell was that thing?

I froze for a moment in shock, and then I felt it. The creeping feeling that I was being watched. I slowly turned around and I saw it....

I saw HIM.

A towering figure with burning eyes that pierced right through my soul. His body was covered in dark scales and his hair looked like fire. I could feel pure unbridled hatred radiating off from him. He did not break eye contact with me, and an intesne fear rushed through my body. I knew immediately that I was in great danger. But I couldn’t leave, or even look away. I was totally petrified with fear. This was no man. This was a demon. Before then I had never seen a demon, not many have. Some didn’t even believe they existed. But I saw one, and he was staring right at me. 

Then the ground shook again, and I was soon covered in rubble. Something hit my head and I was knocked out cold.  
When I woke up my head hurt, and I was very disoriented. Luckily, the rubble I was buried under wasn’t too heavy, and I was able to dig myself out. My vision was blurry and I was still shaken. Where am I? What happened? Am I dead? Is that demon man still here?  
I was scared, and on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. But then I felt something.... Something I hadn’t felt in years.  
I could feel it touching the tips of my ears. A slight breeze. Then I felt something against my skin. A light warmth. But not that from a raging fire, but comforting warmth. Much like back at the house I grew up in, where the sunlight would hit my bed each morning.  
My vision began to clear. I looked up. And then I saw it. The first sunrise I had seen in years.

I was home. 

I didn’t even notice the tears running down my cheeks at first. I didn’t care if I was still alive or if this was heaven. Either way I was home. I began to sob loudly. If there were any other survivors near by they definantly heard me, but I didn’t care in the least. My hands were shaking, but I tried my best to crawl over all the rubble, still weeping. I didn’t know which direction I was going, but eventually I felt the cool grass beneath me. I grabbed it tightly, as if I were clinging to the earth for dear life. I could hear birds singing, it was the most beautiful sound I had heard in years. Their song made me cry even harder. 

This was my home. I was home.

I collapsed to the floor. I was too weak to keep going, but that was okay. I was ready to die now.  
But then I saw a soft glow. I was assuming that it must have been the afterlife, but I could still feel the grass beneath me. I opened my eyes and saw the shadow of a person. I screamed. I thought it was a guard coming to take me away. No, I wouldn’t let them. I wouldn’t let them take me away from my home again!  
I could feel them touching me, I screamed louder. I struggled and tried to get away as much as my weakened state allowed me.  
But then I heard a voice.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”

It was so soft and soothing. All my fear seemed to just slip away. Then I slowly opened my eyes, and I saw her...

You...

When I first saw you, the first part of you that I noticed was your eyes. I had never seen such beauty, and they filled me with some unidentifiable emotion that was so strong that it was almost overwhelming. Surely not the eyes of any mortal being. But I could tell right away that you different than the demon from before. You were peaceful, and I felt safe when I looked at you, safer than I had felt even before I was locked away.  
Something had changed in that moment when I first looked into your eyes. I didn’t know what, but I knew things would never be the same.  
The next thing I noticed about you was your scars. You were covered in them, even more so than me, and your ears were ripped and torn. And yet, you still looked perfect. You were the most perfect thing I had ever seen, and you always will be.  
You spoke again.

“Sleep now.”

I drifted off to sleep in your arms. You holding me was more comfortable than any bed I had ever slept in, and most certainly far more comfortable than the cold hard floor of a prison cell. 

When I woke up I was still in your arms, but we were someplace different. And I was... completely naked... I would have felt embarrassed if I weren’t still in shock.

I heard you speak to me again. “Oh good, you’re awake! I was just about to bathe you in the fairy fountain. It will be much easier now that you’re conscious.” Your voice sounded chipper and sweet.

“Fairy fountain?” I thought to myself. “Those... don’t actually exist? I’ve either lost it or I’m dead.” 

You stepped into a shallow pond with me and lowered me into the water sitting up right. The chill helped wake me up a little bit more. Then, what had to be hundreds of them, tiny pink glowing sprites surrounded us. Yep, I was dead.

“Let’s get all this grime off you.” You said to me. “The fairies shall heal your wounds.”

I felt the cool water dump on to my head. I didn’t like it and it didn’t help my nerves. It stressed me out and I started aggressively scratching at my scabbed up wrists. Back in prison I had developed a bad habit of biting and scratching my arms in order to feel any kind of stimulation. It was unhealthy but it did help me calm down. 

“Hey, don’t do that! You’re hurting yourself!” you said firmly, but still using a soft voice. “Here, use this instead.”

Then something huge and white appeared from behind you. Whoa, what is that? Is that a wing? Yea, you’ve got wings. But I had seen weirder things that day.

“Here, hold it.” You said as you lightly nudged me with your wing.

I touched it, it was so soft. The last soft thing I remembered touching was that rat that bit me. I stroked it, and I loved the way it felt. It calmed me down far better than self-mutilating my arms ever did. 

“How old are you, if I may ask?” you said to me.

“Old...” was what I replied with.

“Old? You look quite young to me! I’d say your about...” she paused for a moment to examine me. “25 years at most! Give or take.”

“My hair is grey and my body is weak. I’m old.” I was still not thinking straight.

“Your hair won’t be grey for long, as soon as I wash out whatever is making it look like that.” you said. “And the reason you are weak is because you have been starving. But not to worry! One of my servants is mixing up an elixir to help with your symptoms as we speak, and we have pleanty of food. We’ll have you fattened up in no time!”

I felt you touch my head and I flinched. I was not used to being touched without someone hurting me. You noticed this and paused for a moment before touching me again. This time I didn’t flinch as much. You were gentile and your hands were soft. I quickly learned to love being touched by you. You were so comforting.

You spoke to me again. “Now may I ask, what is your name?”

My name... What was my name? I hadn’t heard my name spoken in so long that I had almost forgotten I had one. Then I remembered. The last time anyone had ever spoken my name, was when my mother was screaming it as the soldiers ripped me out of her arms when she was trying to keep them from taking me away, and just before a I saw an arrow fly in into her head. She was the one who gave me that name, and I remembered.

“Link... My name is Link...”

It’s what my mother and father called me, it’s what my little brother called me, it’s what my friends called me, it’s what the land called me. My name is Link.

“It’s nice to meet you Link.” you said. “My name is Hylia. I am a goddess. Your goddess, to be exact.”

Woah, WHAT?!

“Okay, now I definitely know I’m dead” I thought out loud. 

You laughed, it was such a sweet sound. “You are very much alive Link. It is me who is in your world, not you who are in mine.”

“Oh, okay...” I was still too out of it to process much of a reaction. 

I really don’t know how much time went by. I was spaced out for the most part. I was only fixated on your wing that you gave me.

Then you spoke again and it broke my spacing out which made me jump slightly. “Aha! I knew you didn’t have grey hair! It’s a lovely light blond! Looks almost as light as my hair.”

I pulled a strand of hair in front of my face. There was no longer any matting, dirt, or dried up blood. It was completely cleaned and once again blond. How did you manage to do that? 

My head was finally starting to clear a bit more when I noticed your eyes gazing downwards into my lower regions. I blushed and pulled my legs up closer to my chest.

“Your right knee, it was injured a long time a ago wasn’t it?” you asked.

I nodded, wondering how you were able to pick up on that just by looking.

“It’s already healed and the fairies can not fix it, but I may be able to. I’ll see if the robots could design a good leg brace for you, however just not at this moment. The rest of your wounds have been healed though.”

I looked down at my arm and a fairy I hadn’t even noticed had just fluttered off. All the open cuts and scabs from my biting and scratching were gone. All that was left were old scars. Then I noticed that the stinging pain on my back from the whip lashes was no longer there. I reached behind me to feel his back. No open wounds, just old scars. I was at a loss for words. 

“You are still very ill though.” you said to me. “I’m going to take you back home for more medical attention.”

Then I asked out of nowhere, “Why are you here? Why did you save me?”

You were silent for a moment, and you looked uneasy. “I do not wish to worry you with that now. I will tell you once you’ve recovered more.”

You carried me out of the fairy fountain and gently set me down next to a fresh set of clothes that you had lay out for me. I didn’t realize till then how much you towered over me in height, and how muscular you were. Made sense, seeing how you were an extremely powerful divine being.  
I started getting dressed. It was easier than I thought it would be, considering that I hadn’t had a new change of clothes since I was a teenager.  
It felt surreal to feel so clean after so long, but it was a good feeling.  
I was getting tired again. But it was that comfortable sort of tired, where you could just curl up and peacefully sleep. When you picked me up again that’s just what I did.

You woke me up when you took me to your home, which looked like a small settlement. There were people there, and they were looking at me. I didn’t like that, it made me tense up. Fortunately you took me to a private room. You must have been able to tell that I was getting uncomfortable.  
You sat me down on a bed and handed me a glass of elixir. 

“Drink this.” you said. “I won’t lie, it tastes terrible, but it will help you recover from your starvation.” 

I drank it. It did taste pretty terrible, but it was still not as terrible as whatever kind of garbage they were serving at that prison. 

“Now it’s time to get you something to eat. I’ll be right back.”

You left for a while, and I waited in anticipation. Finally, real food! I was picturing a big juicy eldin ostrich with honey glaze. Or maybe huge dish covered in various sea food. But what did you come back with? Chicken broth. I tried to hide my disappointment in front of you, but I felt you sensed it anyways. 

“We have to take things slow at first. Your body has forgotten to digest food properly and feeding you large meals could seriously harm you, kill you even. Right now you need to let your body slowly readjust.” You told me.

That made sense, but I was still hungry for something bigger. You kept me from drinking the soup too fast which was a bit frustrating, but you knew what was best.  
After finishing I again felt tired. But before I lay down to sleep I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. There was a mirror hanging over a desk that was across from my bed. You helped me walk over to it and I sat down in front of it. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.

That was... me? I was so much older. The pudginess in my cheeks was completely gone, and my face was longer. I no longer resembled the teenage boy I once was all those years ago. This was the first time I had ever seen my face as a man.  
I could see the crookedness of my jaw, but it wasn’t bad as I thought it was. And I could finally see all the scars on my face that before I could only feel. They also didn’t look quite as bad as I had imagined. And then I saw my hair. It was... pretty? Wow, I actually liked the way my hair looked! It was soft and shaggy like it used to be.  
Then I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of happiness. Tears flooded down my face. I felt you place my hand on my shoulder. You felt so gentile and warm and it only made me cry harder. I wasn’t just home, I was safe. It would definately take me a while to fully readjust, and perhaps I never would. But I knew I was safe in that moment. And I was free, actually free! Words could not describe how eternally grateful I was to you.  
You saved me, and I dedicated myself to you. I would never have been able to function on my own, but with you I eventually learned how to love life again. And it didn’t take me long, to love you even more. Although we were doomed from the start, I still loved you with all my being, and I still do.

Every time I am born I forget. I forget everything. Prison, the war, even you. But there is always a brief moment of time during every death that I remember everything. Every happy moment we shared, every tear that we shed, and every adventure that we had.  
Soon this brief moment will end and I will forget again. But as many times as I may forget, there will always be something in the back of my mind that will try to remind me, each time I first see you, my Zelda.


End file.
